HACKING FALLOUT

05.02.12

Murdoch’s Fox Licenses Criticized

Mary Altaffer / AP Photo

The hacking scandal might be spilling over to the U.S. Following the British Parliament’s censure of News Corp. head Rupert Murdoch on Tuesday, a U.S. ethics watchdog group has targeted Murdoch’s immensely profitable Fox News, calling on the Federal Communications Commission to revoke Fox’s 27 broadcasting licenses. The director of the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) declared that “if they [News Corp.] are not passing character standard under British law, it seems to me that they are not going to meet the character standard in America.” Meanwhile, satellite broadcaster BSkyB—of which News Corp. holds a 39 percent ownership stake—insisted to British regulators that its practices are “fit and proper,” and insisted will be “better and stronger” following the hacking scandal.